I worked one where the pilot ejected and only got a few scratches on his arm from the sage brush while he was walking out to the nearest road.

I worked another where the co-pilot was beheaded by a bird coming thru the canopy.

The worst, hands down, was the A-10 Lt Col who ejected in a full bank horizontal to the ground; his seat worked perfectly right until it hit the Oak tree. It was worse than the decapitated guy because the lab reeked for weeks.

// have actually had a conversation, while eating lunch, that included the words "what's that? I think it's a piece of tongue..."// continued eating lunch...

WhyteRaven74:remus: I worked another where the co-pilot was beheaded by a bird coming thru the canopy.

I heard of an incident in the 70s, not sure what plane or exact location, but someone was working on a plane in a hanger, when the ejection seat went off...

I was an instructor in the Air Training Corps here in the UK years ago. A bunch of cadets were on a week camp at a RAF airbase and were being shown round a hangar including a Tornado being serviced, with chances to sit in the seats etc. After they left a mechanic notices one of the pins from the ejector seat was missing....He told the FS, the FS told the officer, the officer told the base commander etc. It went up to the top of the RAF and then back down the chain of command of the ATC, in about half an hour. Every cadet was confined to quarters, uniformed ATC staff were on the carpet, civilian staff were almost as confined to quarters as the cadets. When the guilty cadet confessed his parents got a call saying "Your son is no longer in the Air Cadets. You have to collect him now". The atmosphere lasted the rest of the week and affected the next few weeks groups as well.

I worked one where the pilot ejected and only got a few scratches on his arm from the sage brush while he was walking out to the nearest road.

I worked another where the co-pilot was beheaded by a bird coming thru the canopy.

The worst, hands down, was the A-10 Lt Col who ejected in a full bank horizontal to the ground; his seat worked perfectly right until it hit the Oak tree. It was worse than the decapitated guy because the lab reeked for weeks.

// have actually had a conversation, while eating lunch, that included the words "what's that? I think it's a piece of tongue..."// continued eating lunch...

Seeing a plane do something like that when you're on the ground near it has got to be one of the most pants-crapping moments a person can have (aside from being on the plane I guess). Wichita has a couple of areas near Mid Continent and McConnell where landing planes can come in fairly low over roads, and anytime you're driving and feel that shadow pass it kind of gives you chills.

I worked one where the pilot ejected and only got a few scratches on his arm from the sage brush while he was walking out to the nearest road.

Reminds me of a story I heard while visiting my brother down in Del Rio,Texas, where he was an instructor pilot at the time. They had a jet in the unit out on a training mission, when the jet started to come apart and enter a rapid uncontrolled roll. Instructor gave the instruction to eject, and they did safely (which apparently shocked the wingman, given their roll rate).

But then they landed. In the middle of a herd of angry west Texas steer. They ended up climbing what passed for a tree in that part of Texas -- a scrawny thing full of thorns -- and ended up sustaining greater injuries from the tree while evading the bovines than they did in the ejection. Everyone in the unit thought this was hilariously funny.

In the pre-video days, like 1865. They just had to say it with words when there was a bad accident.

"The Indianapolis Journal reports the following horrible accident, by which a Mrs. KRONAN lost her life: She was killed in crossing the railroad track on Illinois Street. At the time Mrs. KRONAN was attempting to cross, the Terre Haute train was coming in, while the switch engine of the I. & C. road was taking up seven or eight freight cars to the Terre Haute Depot. The woman attempted to get out of the way of the Terre Haute train, and in doing so was unfortunate enough to get in the way of the freight train. She was thrown upon the track, and two or three cars passed directly over her head, mangling it in a most fearful manner; not a feature of her face was left, and identification was impossible except by her dress. Her brains were scattered about, and even her tongue dislocated from her head, and left by the side of the rail. "

Warthog:But then they landed. In the middle of a herd of angry west Texas steer. They ended up climbing what passed for a tree in that part of Texas -- a scrawny thing full of thorns -- and ended up sustaining greater injuries from the tree while evading the bovines than they did in the ejection. Everyone in the unit thought this was hilariously funny.

I've always wondered about these stories. The line I was told was that ejection seats generally compress your spine so badly in the attempt to get you TFO of the way that walking afterwards is pretty much impossible.

The vid is just gnarly. Thanks for the Farkers who explained cargo shift, because my family has been in the aerospace business long enough that I know there's not much mechanical that can cause that.

Flint Ironstag:WhyteRaven74: remus: I worked another where the co-pilot was beheaded by a bird coming thru the canopy.

I heard of an incident in the 70s, not sure what plane or exact location, but someone was working on a plane in a hanger, when the ejection seat went off...

I was an instructor in the Air Training Corps here in the UK years ago. A bunch of cadets were on a week camp at a RAF airbase and were being shown round a hangar including a Tornado being serviced, with chances to sit in the seats etc. After they left a mechanic notices one of the pins from the ejector seat was missing....He told the FS, the FS told the officer, the officer told the base commander etc. It went up to the top of the RAF and then back down the chain of command of the ATC, in about half an hour. Every cadet was confined to quarters, uniformed ATC staff were on the carpet, civilian staff were almost as confined to quarters as the cadets. When the guilty cadet confessed his parents got a call saying "Your son is no longer in the Air Cadets. You have to collect him now". The atmosphere lasted the rest of the week and affected the next few weeks groups as well.

jayhawk88:Seeing a plane do something like that when you're on the ground near it has got to be one of the most pants-crapping moments a person can have (aside from being on the plane I guess). Wichita has a couple of areas near Mid Continent and McConnell where landing planes can come in fairly low over roads, and anytime you're driving and feel that shadow pass it kind of gives you chills.

I have dreams of planes (and other large objects) falling out of the sky on a semi-regular basis.